Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday met with 150 intellectuals from the Muslim community in Guwahati over the 'Two-child policy' issue that was announced last month.
The program, titled 'ALAAP- ALOCHANA: Empowering The Religious Minorities', was held at the Assam Administrative Staff College today.
The chief minister had on Saturday announced that he would meet with leaders of the minority community to discuss the population issue.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to meet 150 Muslim intellectuals. During the last 1 month, I met both fractions of the All Assam Minority Students' Union and everybody had said that population is a pressing problem that needs to be resolved," he said.
"In Assam, there is no controversy," he added.
He also stressed that the policy is necessary because it is the only way to eradicate poverty and illiteracy in the Muslim community in Assam.
He also said that there is no resistance from the minority community regarding the same.
"It's for the welfare of the minority community and I don't think there is any resistance from them. All Assam Minority Students' Union met me last month and admitted that Muslims in Assam need population control measures. I am meeting Muslim intellectuals in July, and I am sure they will support state government's policy," he had said.
The new law for the 'Two-child policy' will be the criteria to get government jobs and to avail benefits from state-sponsored welfare schemes, he had announced on June 18.
Tea garden workers and members of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities are however exempted from its purview.